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Gaz, Taster of Pork
Plot Summary Dib discovers that one of his Spelldrives, an electronic book that utilizes magic, still has unused cast points on it, he decides to use it. Dib comes across a spell that sounds interesting, but casts it on his sister, Gaz, first, in order to test and see if the spell is one he'd like to use on himself. However, the spell makes everything Gaz eats taste like pig. Once Gaz figures out Dib is behind it, she threatens to destroy her brother with her flesh-eating robotic toys if he doesn’t help her get back to normal. Dib has trouble finding a cure, so he talks to Professor Membrane. All their father does, though, is put Gaz in a cage and has the media treat her like a freak, so Dib goes off to ask The Swollen Eyeball Network if they have any advice on the situation. They report back that there is only one way for Gaz to get her sense of taste restored: she and Dib must travel to an alternate piggy dimension and ask The Shadow Hog to return her to normal. After helping his sister break out of the cage, DIb and Gaz go to Mystical Hill and use one of Dib's Spelldrives to teleport them to the realm of the Shadow Hog. There, after much convincing, the Shadow Hog agrees to cure Gaz, but only if she passes "The Trial". Gaz readily agrees to these terms, but Dib becomes concerned for his little sister, as she knows so little about the Paranormal, and she must pass on her own. In truth, once Gaz enters the arena, where The Trial takes place, the Shadow Hog asks her two questions, both of which she answers correctly. Then they spend the rest of the time hanging out and talking. Meanwhile, Dib is outside the arena trying to break in to help Gaz, and getting beat up in the process. When he finally makes it in, he assumes Gaz failed and begs the Shadow Hog to punish him instead, after confessing it was his fault Gaz was cursed. Both the Shadow Hog and Gaz decide to do as he wishes, and Gaz goes home back to normal, while Dib is stuck in the piggy dimension cleaning out the Shadow Hog's toilet with his head. Facts of Doom Cultural References *Near the end of the episode, Gaz utters the infamous Konami Code, being Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right A, B, B, A, Start being the code she said for gaining unlimited lives in Super Kicky Fighter, a parody of Super Street Fighter. *This entire episode is based off of a "MEANWHILE" featured in the back of "Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors", a comic by Jhonen. The "MEANWHILE" features Tickle-Me-Hellmo (parody of the popular Tickle-Me Elmo), a demonic children's toy who puts kids through several levels of torture. The eighth level is that it "Alters child's taste buds so that everything tastes like pork". *The hill that Gaz and Dib are on in beaver costumes is Mystical Hill. It is called Lover's Hill in JTHM. Trivia of Doom *Steve Ressel has adamantly stated that this is his least favorite episode in the series. *GIR has one line in this episode ("I got monkeys in me!"). Rosearik Rikki Simons (GIR's voice actor) said that he actually got paid just to say that. **This is the only episode in which GIR appears in more scenes than Zim. *This episode marks the first and only appearance of the Hobo, a down-and-out bum with a big bushy beard, whom Dib meets at MacMeaties. Hobo was slated to have a more major role in an unfinished episode called Roboparents Gone Wild. *Despite Gaz's dark and cruel nature, she still sleeps in pink pajamas; however, these pajamas have little bat wings on the back of them in one scene rather than having frills and lace. *The episode reveals that Gaz has some robotic stuffed animals that she has in her room, which she uses for security purposes. However, she only turns them on whenever Dib makes unauthorized entrances, and she has programmed them to feed on human flesh. *This episode never aired in the United States until 2006, but it has aired in other countries years earlier, such as in 2003 in Australia. *This episode marks Dib's second time he appears on Mysterious Mysteries; the first time being in Mysterious Mysteries. Things You Might Have Missed *There is a poster on Gaz's bedroom door that says "Outside is Stupid". *After Gaz summons security, there is a poster behind Gaz that reads "Swollen Squirrel". It is unknown if the man on the right is Johnny C. *When Zim asked for Dib's help in Planet Jackers, Dib refused. Now, when Dib asked for Zim's help, it's Zim's turn to return the favor. *When Dib is asking Zim for help and Zim refuses, Dib remarks “I helped you when we were turning into giant bolognies!”, which is a reference to a previous episode of Invader ZIM entitled Bolognius Maximus. This recollection implies that the two were cured in the time following the events of that episode. *Look closely when Dib looks into the Shadow Hog's "Filthy Toilet of Filthy Piggy Filth". When Dib is screaming, there is a lens on the toilet. Inconsistencies and Animation Errors *When Dib and Gaz appear to be holding hands in one scene, it is stated to have been an animation error by Jhonen Vasquez himself. Further evidence shows that their hands seem to be completely gone and their arms seem stuck together. *Gaz eats the hot dog and says it tastes normal, though it should have tasted differently, since the bun would have also tasted like pig. *Just before we close up to Zim when Dib needs help, look behind the house: it lights up for no apparent reason. *When Dib is asking Zim for help, GIR's nose becomes a human one. *When Zim says "I've loaded GIR full of explosive monkeys and I'm about to...", the color of his lenses is pink instead of blue. *When GIR is yelling "I got monkeys in me!", his teeth can be seen. Concept Art Image:Alexovich Robots_freaktoys.jpg|Gaz's freakish robot toys. See also *Gaz, Taster of Pork Screenshots *Gaz, Taster of Pork (Transcript) References External links *http://www.tv.com/invader-zim/gaz-taster-of-pork/episode/143604/summary.html *http://web.archive.org/web/20070502014141/http://www.thescarymonkeyshow.com/features/trans/gtop.htm Category:Season 2 Category:Dib Filmography Category:Gaz Filmography Category:GIR Filmography Category:Professor Membrane Filmography Category:Zim Filmography Category:Episodes